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Graphene + magnetic field creates exotic new quantum electronic states

Could make graphene suitable for quantum computing for high-priority computational tasks
December 26, 2013

mit_graphene_magfield

MIT research has found additional potential for graphene that could make it suitable for exotic uses such as quantum computing.

Under an extremely powerful magnetic field and at extremely low temperature, the researchers found, graphene can effectively filter electrons according to the direction of their spin, something that cannot be done by any conventional electronic system.

The trick:

  • Turn on a powerful magnetic field

… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics | Quantum

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Liquid crystal ‘flowers’ that can be used as lenses

December 24, 2013

bright field liquid crystal flower

A team of material scientists, chemical engineers and physicists from the University of Pennsylvania has made another advance in their effort to use liquid crystals as a medium for assembling structures.

In their earlier studies, the team produced patterns of “defects,” useful disruptions in the repeating patterns found in liquid crystals, in nanoscale grids and rings. The new study adds a more complex pattern out of an even simpler… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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DNA motor ‘walks’ along nanotube, transports nanoparticle cargo

December 24, 2013

Molecular model of a nanoparticle-functionalized, DNAzyme-based motor on an RNA-decorated nanotube track. The DNAzyme motor consists of a catalytic core (green) and recognition arms (red). Cadmium sulfide nanocrystals (yellow) and carbon nanotubes (black) are used as a model system for the cargo and a one-dimensional track.

Researchers have created a new type of molecular motor made of DNA and demonstrated its potential by using it to transport a nanoparticle along the length of a carbon nanotube.

The design was inspired by natural biological motors that have evolved to perform specific tasks critical to the function of cells, said Jong Hyun Choi, a Purdue University assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

Controllable… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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The brain’s visual data-compression algorithm

December 24, 2013

jancke_cerebral_cortex__c__jancke

Researchers have assumed that visual information in the brain was transmitted almost in its entirety from its entry point, the primary visual cortex (V1).

“We intuitively assume that our visual system generates a continuous stream of images, just like a video camera,” said Dr. Dirk Jancke from the Institute for Neural Computation at Ruhr University.

“However, we have now demonstrated that the visual cortex suppresses… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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How we process numbers is revealed in our brain structure

December 24, 2013

brain_numbers

How to you visualize numbers? Spatially, or in some other way?

For a long time, scientists thought that everyone processed numbers predominantly in a spatial way (low to high numbers visualized as left to right).

More recently, several studies have shown associations between numbers and non-spatial representations of magnitude, such as physical size,  grip opening, object graspability, tactile sensation, force (against a button, for example), and luminosity.… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Morphing micro-muscular motor is 1,000 times more powerful than a same-size human muscle

December 23, 2013

Junqiao-Wu-micromuscle-scheme

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers have made a micro-sized robotic torsional muscle/motor that is 1,000 times more powerful than a human muscle of the same size and can catapult objects 50 times heavier than itself over a distance five times its length within 60 milliseconds.

The muscle is made from vanadium dioxide, which has an extraordinary ability to change size, shape and physical identity.… read more

Topics: Biotech | Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Cubli — a cube that can walk

December 23, 2013

Cubli

The Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, a research institute at ETH Zurich university, has developed Cubli*: a 15 × 15 × 15 cm cube that can jump up and balance on its corner.

Reaction wheels mounted on three faces of the cube rotate at high angular velocities and then brake suddenly, causing the Cubli to jump up.
Once the Cubli is balancing on its… read more

Topics: Electronics

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The future of cryonics debate between physicist Michio Kaku and Alcor CEO Max More

December 22, 2013

ALCOR2

In response to a question, “What are the practical applications of cryogenics today, and what potential improvements can we expect 20 to 30 years down the line?” Michio Kaku, PhD, replied with a critique.

Max More, PhD, CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation, offered this response, noting that cryonics is “affordable by regular people. Ice does not form inside cells… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials winner: Schaft from Japan

December 21, 2013

Future Google delivery guy? (credit: SHAFT, Inc.)

It was a “Woodstock for robots,” said Boston Dynamics’ Marc Raibert, as sixteen teams from around the world came together at Florida’s Homestead Miami Speedway, December 20–21, 2013 to participate in eight demanding tasks in DARPA’s Robotics Challenge Trials.

And the winner was Schaft from Japan, owned by Google. Atlas-Ian from Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition placed second;… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Survival/Defense

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Method for mass production of graphene-based field-effect transistors (FETs) developed

December 20, 2013

bcn_graphene

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) researchers in Korea have announced a method for mass production of graphene-based field-effect transistors (FETs).

The design creates boron/nitrogen co-doped graphene nanoplatelets (BCN-graphene) via a simple solvothermal reaction of BBr3/CCl4/N2 in the presence of potassium.

Various methods of making graphene-based FETs have been exploited, including doping graphene, tailoring graphene like a nanoribbon, and using boron nitride… read more

Topics: Electronics

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World’s first text message via molecular communication sent

May be useful for communication underground, underwater, or inside the body
December 20, 2013

Molecular transmitter

Scientists have created a molecular communications system for the transmission of messages and data in challenging environments where electromagnetic waves cannot be used — such as tunnels, pipelines, underwater, within the body, and in biomedical nanorobots.

Molecular signaling is a common feature of the plant and animal kingdom — insects for example use pheromones for long-range signalling — but to date, continuous data have not been transmitted using… read more

Topics: Electronics

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A new — and reversible — cause of aging

NAD, a naturally produced compound in cells, rewinds aspects of age-related demise in mice
December 20, 2013

sirt1_protein

Researchers have discovered a cause of aging in mammals that may be reversible: a series of molecular events that enable communication inside cells between the nucleus and mitochondria.

As communication breaks down, aging accelerates. By administering a molecule naturally produced by the human body, scientists restored the communication network in older mice. Subsequent tissue samples showed key biological hallmarks that were comparable to those of much younger animals.… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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Converting algae to crude oil — a million-year natural process — in minutes

December 20, 2013

Algae slurry

Engineers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created a continuous chemical process that produces useful crude oil from harvested algae in minutes, described in the journal Algae Research.

Utah-based Genifuel Corp. has licensed the technology and is working with an industrial partner to build a pilot plant using the technology.

How to create ‘instant oil’

A slurry of… read more

Topics: Energy

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Microprinting low-cost artificial cells

Could serve as drug and gene delivery devices
December 19, 2013

Schematic representation of production of arrays of controlled-size giant proteoliposomes by combining hydrogel stamping and electroformation techniques

Easily manufactured, low-cost artificial cells manufactured using microprinting may one day serve as drug and gene delivery devices and in biomaterials, biotechnology and biosensing applications, according to a team of Penn State biomedical engineers.

These artificial cells will also allow researchers to explore actions that take place at the cell membrane.

“In a natural cell, so much is going on inside that it is… read more

Topics: Biotech | Synthetic Biology

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Programming smart molecules for chemical-based AI

Machine-learning algorithms could make chemical reactions intelligent, tuned to your personal chemistry to diagnose or treat a range of pathologies using "smart drugs"
December 19, 2013

Molecular program

Computer scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have joined forces to put powerful probabilistic reasoning algorithms in the hands of bioengineers.

In a new paper (open access) presented at the recent Neural Information Processing Systems conference, Ryan P. Adams and Nils… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Synthetic Biology

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